In-Box Review

Continuing my review of Model Space's 1/84 scale Sovereign of the Seas wooden ship kit, I want to share what comes in Pack 2 of the subscription and what this part covers in the construction.

I recently received my second installment of a subscription to the Sovereign of the Seas kit from Model Space. With this delivery, there were two boxes that had arrived. One box contained the second edition of the instructional magazine as well as all of the parts to complete sections outlined in Pack 2 of this kit. The second box contained a free gift that comes with the subscription of the kit. As part of my review series on the Sovereign of the Seas kit, I will go through all of parts and instructions included in this second pack.

Inside the first box there was a pile of individually packaged sets of parts. Like before, all of the small bags are numbered and correspond to steps in the instruction magazine. For Pack 2, Stages 12 through Stage 22 of the construction are covered. Going in order from Stage 12 up, I will discuss the parts delivered and the construction processes needed to complete these steps.

As with all of Model Space’s subscriptions, the build is broken down into stages of construction. Sections of the model are delivered on a monthly basis until the order is filled, twelve months in the case of the Sovereign of the Seas kit, or unless the subscription is canceled. Similar to delivery of Pack 1, Pack 2 contains a full color instructional magazine. This manual is 111 pages in length and discusses the various constructions involved leading up to the next month’s delivery.

Sovereign of the Seas - Pack 2

The book begins with a thirteen-page history layout. There are four new chapters giving the builder some insight to the history behind the ship and era she sailed in. Chapter 1 gives us some background on why shipping and trade routes were important at the time in “The first European expansion and trade”. This leads into an explanation of technical specification of the ships with the chapter titled “Naval architecture comes of age”. This was followed by the chapter “English exploration and settlement” which discusses some of the exploits of Humphry Gilbert and Walter Raleigh and their search for the Golden City, the Pilgrims and the British East India Company. The final chapter before the instructions begin is called “Preventive treatment and maintenance of ships”. This of course discusses some of the measures taken at the time to services these sailing vessels.

Moving into the instructions and the bulk of the magazine, we arrive at Stage 12, ‘Stringers and beams of the lower deck”. The first section of Stage 12 is the installation of the third gun deck. There is a small bag of brass nails provided in the package labeled #12. The deck sections that were provided in Stage 11 in Pack 1 are to be nailed down. The package associated with Stage 12 also contains two different sizes of wood strips, brass strip and a photo etch mesh part. The thicker wood strips are for adding stringers which are essentially are a backing plate to the lower gun deck. These will hide the emptiness that might be seen once the cannon have been installed. The thinner strips are for support beams for the second gun deck.
Stage 13: “Detaching the launch from the assembly jig and making the anchor” includes various parts for completing the ship’s launch. The #13 package contains wood strips, metal oars, a small boat anchor and rigging. In this stage, sanding of the launch’s hull and removal of the small boat from it framing jig is to be done. Once the boat is removed and the cut joints are cleaned up, installation of the keel is called for as well as the construction of the boats anchor is suggested. Jumping back into the main ship, Stage 14: “The second deck and fitting out the lunch” outlines the installation of the second gun deck. Package #14 contains the six flat deck sections which get glued into place on top of the framing beams installed in Stage 12. Continued work on the ship launch happen in this stage as well. Interior side frames and stabilizers for the hull are attached.

Moving on to Stage 15: “Stern assembly pieces and painting the launch". In this section work continues on the transom of the main ship. Additional framing is added forming the stern into more of the classical shape as seen on the original Sovereign. In this stage, the interior and exterior of the launch gets some color with some paint. Stage 16: “Parts of the stern, oars and bucket" shows the continued framing to the hull under the transom of the ship including installation of the transom itself. The #16 package includes parts for the stern construction as well as a small bag of brass nails and Bamboo and Sapele planking for the ship’s hull. Also in this stage, attention of the launch fitting with paint and the bundling of the launch’s oars and construction the small bucket that has been provided in a previous stage.

Packages 17 through 21 contained in Pack 2 contain the same items; Bamboo and Sapele wood strips and one bag of nails each. All of the bamboo strips are for the initial planking to the Sovereign’s hull. The instructions beautifully show the steps needed to adequately install the planking including fairing the bulkheads so that the planking lay flat against them. The stern planking is the first to be installed followed by a starting course of decking along the top edge of the hull and along the keel. Stages 17 to 21 fully outline the process to planking including joints and spacing of the planks. There is a small section in Stage 19 that include continued painting for the launch and in Stage 20 installation of the interior to the launch begins.

The final stage of Pack 2 is Stage 22: Two cannons and blocks. Provided in package #22 is two more cannons along with black and tackle setups. In the same manner as seen in Pack 1 of this kit, the carriages to the cannon are to be constructed, painting and finishing of the entire gun is to be done. The instructions also show the construction of the block and tackle in preparation for rigging in future sections of the build.

As I mentioned early on in the review, there was a second package delivered with Pack 2. Inside contains one of the two free gifts Model Space provides with their subscriptions of the Sovereign of the Seas. This first free gift is X-acto’s X-tra Hands with Magnifier. This is a great tool to help hold and magnify small parts and should prove an asset, especially during some of the rigging later on in the build.

I wanted to add a small note about the Model Space Customer Service. During the processes between getting Pack 1 and Pack 2 of this subscription, I experienced my first loss of parts when the container that housed some of the small blocks for the cannons was inadvertently knocked over by a family member. The result of this was not being able to locate two of the blocks and 2 of the eyelets used to for rigging the cannons. A simple email to Model Space Customer Service ( http://www.model-space.com/us/contacts ) and the helpful folks that work there asked for the Pack, Stage and Part Numbers I needed and said they would send them off to me right away. You cannot put a price on good customer service....I was very pleased!

Conclusion

I was very excited to see the second installment, Pack 2 of the subscription arrive this month. The majority of the parts in this Pack are made up of planking which is covered extensively in the instruction magazine. I am still very impressed with the quality of the parts as well as the layout to the construction. The instructions continue to be straightforward and precise showing all of the installations needed for Pack 2. The time between deliveries of each pack appears to be more than enough to complete each pack and depending on the builders' skill level, there should be enough time to adequately complete the stages from Pack 2 before Pack 3 arrives. However, the planking of any hull can take time, especially for someone who is not familiar with the process. Once you get started though, the planking does become more routine and the work progresses along quickly. As you see in the pictures attached to this review, I have made my way through some of the stages of this Pack and have come to the point of plank installation. I will begin planking shortly and update my blog showing some progress leading up to the delivery of the next Pack in the subscription next month. You can follow along with my progress on my build thread; the link is provided below.

Highs: Pack 2 of the Sovereign of the Seas kit remains consistent in quality with detailing of the parts as well as the with the instructions.Lows: None at this time.Verdict: I am thrilled with the arrival of Pack 2. I am looking forward to starting the planking and of course to what might arrive in Pack 3 next month.

I am building what I like, when I like and how I like it; having fun doing it. I have been building and finishing models on and off my whole life but the past ten years things really exploded. Just about anything goes when it comes to hitting the bench, but wrecked armor, rusted hulks, ships or ...